A desirable feature of certain hand-held lights, such as battery operated flashlights, is the capability of adjusting the beam width. In certain instances, it is useful to provide a concentrated beam of light of constant diameter, while in other instances, it is desirable for the beam to spread and thereby illuminate a large area. This has been achieved in the past by selecting the position of the bulb with respect to the parabolic reflector commonly used in flashlights. A bulb is located at the focus of a parabolic reflector and rays from the bulb are collimated by the reflector to provide a beam which is of substantially constant diameter. In the past, a beam that is conical in shape, that is, one that spreads, has been achieved by moving the bulb so as not to be located at the focus of the reflector. The distance between the bulb location and the focus will affect the amount of beam spread. Flashlights that have had this capability in the past have been too expensive to manufacture to be saleable in the mass market. Also, prior flashlights with adjustable beam width incorporate a head fixed with respect to the main body, which is undesirable in certain instances. U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,991,753 to Kurlander and 1,674,650 to Leser disclose such prior flashlights.